ALBANY, N.Y., October 2, 2006 – For the ninth consecutive year, Albany Medical Center is the only hospital in northeastern New York named a Consumer Choice Award winner by the National Research Corporation.

The award identifies hospitals which healthcare consumers have chosen as having the highest quality and image in 186 markets throughout the United States, according to NRC Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Hays. A list of award winners appears in the September 25 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine.

In its annually conducted NRC Healthcare Market Guide study, billed by the organization as the nation’s most comprehensive consumer assessment study of the healthcare industry, the NRC surveyed nearly 200,000 households representing 450,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. Winners were determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected. Of the hospitals named by consumers in the study, the winning facilities ranked highest in their Metropolitan Statistical Areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Other upstate New York hospitals receiving the award included the following: Buffalo General Hospital and Millard Filmore Suburban Hospital in Buffalo; Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester; St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse; Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital in Binghamton; and Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare-St. Luke’s Campus and St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica.

The Albany Medical Center consists of one of the state's largest teaching hospitals, the Albany Medical Center Hospital, and one of the nation's oldest medical schools, the Albany Medical College.